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Group Work: A design and facilitation guide for instructors

In this guide, we have attempted to communicate salient research on (online) group work and lessons learned on applying this research within our context. This guide is meant to provide support to Instructors designing groupwork.

This guide is divided into three (3) main categories: Foundations, Design, and Delivery. Within each category, we have tried to present information that responds to the most common questions we have encountered (both in the research and in practice).

In addition, where possible, we have provided exemplars from Arts and Science Online courses, sample wording, insights from instructors, etc. embedded in these sections and in the appendices.

Faculty Positionality Statements

Queen’s Strategic Framework commits to “advanc[ing] highly effective pedagogies” in order to “build a diverse, equitable, inclusive and anti-racist community for our people, to [I]indigenize and decolonize the academy.” In addition, one of the six strategic goals of the framework is aimed at “teaching and learning reform oriented toward a pluralistic and culturally relevant global environment” (���˴�Ƭ Strategy, n.d.)   

One of the initial steps you could take to contribute to these efforts is creating a positionality statement that can be included in your syllabi, teaching philosophy statements, or promotion and tenure package. It can also be utilized to inform your course content, pedagogical approaches, and engagement with students.

To create a positionality statement, you will need to intentionally reflect on your own positionality as an educator. This reflection can help you consider how ‘who you are’—meaning the combination of your social identities (gender, race, ethnicity, class, and many others)—“influence[s] and inform[s] how you move through the world, what knowledge you produce and value, and the biases through which everything you say, think, and do, is filtered, intentionally or otherwise" (Carroll, Driessens, Fargo, Prendi, Zaza, 2022, p. 98).